PETRA at Night...

PETRA at Night

...the sun was going down somewhere behind the forty five meters tall walls of Petra. The noises of thousands of tourists was slowly disappearing in the distance. As we walked back to the exit of the city, some of my friends decided to paid a couple dinars to get a donkey ride. The donkeys were slower than we thought, (off course, that is why they are donkeys) and the dark of the night caught us half way through. Proud of been the last tourists in the area, all of us started looking for adventure. Some of the girls were offered to go and spend the night in one of the caves. Others got a proposal to get married. The guys got the bill for the donkey ride.

There was not much light left when we walked near the "Treasury." Sam suggested to go and sneaked into the treasury since no one was looking at us. As we walked towards the "Narrow Path" we found two guys, one seemed to be the twin of Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) and the other was apparently the security guard. We asked for permission to go into the “Treasury.” They looked at us and laugh for a few seconds, and then they said, “No one is allow to go into the Treasury.” With that said the two guys turned around and walked away. We stood there looking at each other until the two guys got lost into the darkness of the “Narrow Path”...

When the guys started walking away from us we did not realized what was happening yet. The Rolf Potts adventures started popping up in our heads. The idea of finding our own adventures, making our own story, and experience a lifetime experience invaded our five senses. As I saw the guys walking away I thought, “Unbelievable. Are they really leaving us here?” Every single one of us was thinking the same idea...

When I looked back my friend Ben was already half way. Only five seconds before I looked, he ran out of control towards the “Treasury.” Wait!- I said. At the time I looked back again to see the rest of us they already had started to run. A rush of emotion traveled all over my body. I also ran behind them. Finally a good travel writing paper for my class. I was already taking notes on my mind, when all of the sudden, “Hey! Stop. You are not allow to go inside” At this point we all stopped, and started laughing hysterically. We thought it was that easy, but no, there was a security guard right behind the tends just waiting for us to do that. Oh! I thought that was the end of the night. It could not be better that that. But...

...It was time to go home, and we were walking back through the Narrow Path. The dark of the night was not capable to blocked the bright rays reflected by the moon. We walked close from each other. We decided to stopped, and enjoy the silence of the night in one of the most beautiful and fascinating places in the world. We sat there and waited... and prayed... and... enjoyed. We looked for a moment of silence, and meditation, but the creation can not be silent. Through the wind, God spoke into us an internal peace. “Creation adores you God. It can not be silent” I thought. When we finally decided to go straight to home, we found the workers setting the two thousand candles for the night show. They offer us a candle for everyone, and also lighted it for us. It was wonderful, specially when something like this happens around someone you care about.

...We walked closer for a while, taking care of each others candle, when hers went off, we used mine to light it over, and when mine went off, we used hers to light it again. One of my lifetime experiences I will never forget. In our walk she came closer and said, “I am so glad that we are living this together” I could not think in anything else. Her soft voice, and the infinite sky collided to create a party of feelings in the atmosphere. I felt a shower of shooting starts falling on me. My heart was soaking wet of the beauty of God's creation not only in my surroundings, but in her...

Petra the city made of rock, with no vegetation around, was the witness of a new story that will have no end. Nor the time or the history, nor the mountains or the darkness could stop this new adventure, and journey of friendship... Petra at night, or Petra during the day...

To be Continue...

Be part of Cade's Army

What do you think when I say life? Where does your mind go when I say hope? Have you ever heard about miracles? Who do you think of when I say a little kid? Do you think of your brother? Your sister? Your grandson? Your son or daughter? I want you to open your eyes. I want you to focus on the next paragraph.

A five year old kid. Hair bright as the sun, skin smooth and soft as the breeze of the ocean. Unending deep blue eyes infinite as the sky. Created by God. Wonderful masterpiece that carries the love of thousands of people. Small size that carries a profound message to humanity. The smell of his hair and the softness of his voice melts the hearts around him in sweetness, and peace. His heart is so big that angels, and the whole creation is amazed of how such a big heart can fit in such a small body. They ask the creator, how is that possible? He looks at them and says, “It's call a miracle.” So this kid five years old is a miracle. Miracles are all around us. If you can read this note, if you can hear this note, if you can feel this, you are a miracle, if you are alive, you are a miracle.

Welcome to Cade's life, “My best friend” as he said a couple days before knowing that a tumor on his brain was affecting his vision, and later his entire life. A tumor? Yes, a brain tumor. Do not think that he gave up. No! He is a warrior, he is a super hero, he is strong, he is invincible. Through his bloodstream runs the strength and honor of the Kings of Kings.

Cade is alive. He is in a fight. He is a warrior. He is fighting a battle that not everyone dares to fight. The battle of life. But he is not alone thousands of people are in battle with him. I'm calling you all warriors, to join to our army, and pray for my “Best friend” I want to see a moment of divine grace, just as when he was formed in the womb of his mom, just as that moment where the glory of God is shown as the miracle of life. Just as that spark of unseen grace, DIVINE GRACE.

Be Part of the thousands...... Visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/cader/journal

Spicy India

Lutheran Center in Mumbai, India.

Hey friends,

Finally we are in India. What an adventure this trip has been. From Buenos Aires to Russia, from Russia to Ankara, from Ankara to Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Then from the Holy Land to Kenya, and from Kenya to the the SPICY India.

Since we arrived in Mumbai, as soon as we all walked out the airport, everyone started sweating. The humidity and temperature of the city was unbelievable. We all squeezed in some little vans that took us to the Lutheran Center where we were going to stay for the next two weeks. The ride that was about 20 minutes, took our senses into a journey of different smells(about 15 to be more specific). The smells were not precisely incense. As soon as the van started moving, all the cliches, believes, and my expectations for India felt on the ground. The poverty of the region was palpable, and violent. The trash was impregnated into the walls, the buildings, and the streets. I closed my eyes for a while when all of the sudden a kid yelled, "Namaste..."

Depack was one of the kids in the Lutheran Center that was supported for the Church. He is a happy and pretty joyful kid. He had a rough childhood and for that reason he moved away and finally was rescued for our brothers in India. Depack was our friend our language partner. He knew nothing about English, but had the most wonderful gift of communicating whatever he wanted to say through motions, sounds, or even just a look.

Today a month ago since our tip ended, India is the country a talk about the most. Why? Well because people ask, "Which was the hardest country to stay? Where did you feel more challenge? and off course the answer is India.
Four weeks ago I was on my way back to Costa Rica when I met this 46 years old lady. She was a traveler, and we shared a few stories. She asked me about India and what was my feeling towards Mumbai. I hold up my words for a few seconds. I didn't want to talk all the bad things about India. Yes it was a difficult country, but I have never been so humbled in my life by looking at people serving others. All our friends from India pour out themselves for us. Anyway, I explained this to the lady, and she was blowing away. She said that there was something in me that she have never seeing before. I agreed. In the last four months I have never seen myself as I do now. As nothing. As someone unable to change others. I can not be the same anymore. After traveling around eleven countries, I can not be the same. I have seen God's love in every single part of the places I visited. I could not change anyone, but God did. When I explained all this to the lady, she went on in a psychological analysis of the trip (off course, because she was a psychology major). "Definitely," she said, "Only God can change the world"

There are many stories about India: the food, the rickshaws, the smells, the bathrooms, the people, the cows, the streets, the religion, the animals, the ministry, the slums, the poverty, and on and on and on. But this is what India taught me, and is that, "God is the only one that can change the world."

My little African Brother

4 November 2010

Samuel Doni

Thinking back to Costa Rica, I remember the first time that I used the glue as a drug. I decided to try it, because I was angry with my parents for not spending enough time with me. They were spending a lot time with the kids from the shelter where my mom used to worked. I did not need the glue, but my desire to block these feelings pushed me to try it. For five months of my life, the small can of glue followed me everywhere I went. I remember how it felt for the thick smell of the glue to go through my nose, reaching the deepest corners of my lungs.

My favorite number was nine, because I knew that at that point the anger and pain in my heart would disappear. In fact, after nine inhalations my muscles trembled and the breathing would become longer and deeper. Thirty seconds later I would lose control of myself, falling on the ground in a deep sleep. Every time I woke up was different, my mom and dad looked different. Every smile or even the smell of their clothes would break through my entire body giving me the satisfaction I wanted. I wanted to be loved, I wanted to be noticed and I wanted to feel my parents in me. The reason I am telling my story is because of Samuel Doni.

Samuel is seventeen years old and lives in a slum that is ten times the size of a football field. He was born in Nakuru, a city that is nine hours away from Kawangware where he lives today. When his mom died in 1999, he moved with his grandmother, but she could not help him anymore after a few years. He moved to Kawangware and started living on the streets. Three weeks later he begun inhaling glue. With big black eyes and a big smile on his face he introduced himself saying, “Hello, I am Don Carlos. That is my real name, but on the street I am known as Samuel Doni, or just Doni to my friends.” His joy and kindness is contagious. Samuel wants to be a tour guide some day.

Samuel has a group of “friends” from the street that share a few sacks at night to keep their bodies warm from the cold of the night. One day while they where sleeping, the police chased a thief. The man was trying to avoid the police jumped in between a group of kids that was near where they were. The police, annoyed by the situation, decided to shoot randomly at the group. They killed all of them. This is just one of the many stories of Samuel. On another occasion, he and one of his friends where sharing a bottle of glue at night. The small fire in front of them seemed to be harmless, but it was not. When they both fell on the ground, losing the notion of everything, his friend did not feel the heat of the fire burning his leg. When they woke up from the effect of the glue it was already too late, the skin of half of his leg was gone.

By knowing these stories, his answer to the question, “Who is God for you?” is understandable: “He is my provider and the one who makes me wake up every morning.

Using a white t-shirt with stripes and blue jeans cut-offs, Samuel is waiting to go to a boarding school in December. He says that once he goes there he will stop using drugs. Right now he uses the glue only to not be afraid of the streets. Using the glue allows him to not feel the cold at night, to not feel the pain in case of been raped by someone at night or to not feel the cold of the rain during the rainy season.

Everyday Samuel wakes up and puts his dirty clothes on and walks out to the streets hoping to find some kind of scrap metal that he can sell. After selling the metal, he goes to one of the hotels around the area and buys a cup of tea (the reason of going to the hotels is because someday he wants to be a tour guide.) once he finishes his tea, Samuel goes back to the slum and buys the glue for the day. Later on after using the drug he walks to the Fikisha Center, takes a shower, and puts his clean clothes on. He does not like being dirty, especially at the church because he respects God and the church. At night he puts his dirty clothes on and explores for more metal. At the end of the night it is only him and his friends. There is not a kiss on the cheek or the forehead, there is no story time or a bed. It is only the glue and his clothes. He knows God and sings praises every Sunday morning in his clean outfit. He needs a chance, he needs a hand to get out of there. His heart is beating and his eyes are blinking right now.

Samuel is just like every other 17-year-old boy. His body is still growing as well as his dreams. He is fighting against poverty, against drugs, against a life that is out of his control. He has been fighting on the streets for more than ten years, with no family and without ever knowing his dad. Samuel is just a kid, it could be my neighbor, it could be yours, but today this is Samuel Doni from Kenya. This is his story and this is his life.

I had a hand that took me from the ground and lifted me up, someone that believed in me, someone that heard my story and decided to help me. After three weeks I stopped using the glue. I finished high school and became a camp leader and a soccer player. But I needed the chance, I needed the opportunity, the light of someone that without knowing me believed and changed the course of my life.

Samuel Doni is living today in Kawangware, waiting for an opportunity to get out of this conflicting area, the opportunity of finishing school and become the next president of Kenya.

“Because you want to change my life and you want me to be the next president of Kenya” Samuel Doni.

Kenya

I remember when I was only twelve and I wanted to go to Africa. After a while the feeling towards the African nation became stronger and stronger. When I was about sixteen I realized that my dream of going there was not going to be possible. Even though I started watching all the movies about Africa. The stories and struggles of the continent and the passion and love of their culture caught my heart deeply. I gave up soon and knew that it was going to be impossible to be there someday. I felt that it was such a long way to get there, but at the same time I felt the people in my heart. They were so close that I could almost felt them and see their dark and deep dark eyes.
Now the next part of the story is the part of Jesus. As he found me and rescued me from my poor decisions, he also gave a new opportunity to make my dreams come true. Now you all now about the trip, and you also know who bless I am for my Lord grace has turning my life upside down. He can make your dreams come true, He can save you and give you a new life just like He did for me.
Kenya... Oh Kenya if I could only put the story in words. As soon as I stepped out of the plain I felt in home. I was struggling with so many things, the problems of my life and search of my own personality, the homesickness and the school projects, and however I was feeling in the right place more than ever. In Kenya God broke my heart. He humble me in ways that are not enough to write down. It was painful and unpleasant. The thoughts and desires of my heart where grubbed by Him and destroyed. After two days of spiritual warfare and prayer the battle for me was over, and once again Jesus was the winner. My heart was changed and a new heart has been place in me. No more lies, I won't pretend anymore been someone that I am not. I must say that God places angels in your life during all the process and without them it is hard to see a light at the end of the path. Rebe Brandt was that angel in my life. She stood with me during all the process and even when I was not completely honest to her she forgave me. Through her Jesus was more real to me. His love through her for me, the kids and all the team is delightful.
In Kenya He made me new. In Kenya my heart was transform. In Kenya God has a plan.
Finally I want to ask for some prayer request, because some of you have been asking for it.

1. For school now that the end of the semester is coming.

2. For Issac one of the Fikisha kids that is in hospital with thypod(http://fikisha.tumblr.com/)

3. For a new organization in Kenya. During my time there we did some contacts to start a organization taking kids out of the streets and supporting them with their studies. So far we have found 8 kids that we already have contact with. We have found a couple soccer balls and old uniforms enough to start. The kids didn't know each other, but now that they are starting to train together they do. They are excited about this. My friends there will be following the kids and mentoring them. Kebera is the second largest slum in Kenya and I'm sure God have something special for them through sports. I'll give you more details later. Please pray for me, for the right decisions and people that will join to these as part of the program.

4. For BWABALL Costa Rica, San Antonio and Nicaragua. That God keeps blessing what they are doing. We also need laptop's for some of the kids that we are sponsoring in Nicaragua, so If you have extra please let me know. This is something that I'm doing for my own. I talked to my dad Josue Garcia (Regional Director for Central America) and Jaime Johnson (Executive Director BWABALL) about it, and they agreed. Please the kids from Nicaragua are in College just like me and it is so hard to be in school without a computer, not that it can't be achieve without it, but it will be so much easier for them. I will provide you pictures of them and sent you a letter of appreciation. I will take the computers myself on December 20th to the offices in San Jose Costa Rica to be deliver the month after to Nicaragua.

5. Last one is for financial support, I do really need it right now as I hit the last $100 of my account and there are a few expenses that I need to cover. Maybe when I come back home I can pay you back by doing some work in your house or something you need. Please let me know and I'll give you the details for the deposits (note the plural on this word, it is call faith hahahaha)

Thank you you all for your support, and for taking the time to read the blog.

I love you

David "Macho" Garcia

Concordia University Irvine

Back in Cairo

We are half way on this trip, the feelings of missing friends, family and home are becoming stronger as we move on to the Mid-Terms week. What a blessing is to have you all reading my updates and always writing to give me strength and encouragement.

Israel was incredible and unforgettable, there were so many places to go and explore. I was a little bit disappointed though, because I was expecting to see Israel as a small old fashioned city with donkeys and camels. Well, surprise! There was no donkeys nor camels. The cars where driving all around the city, moving from Jaffa Gate to the Golden Gate, going in and out as fast as they can. The "Via Dolorosa " was now filled of buildings, small shops selling "belly dance" outfits, a bunch of little bracelets and holly water. The whole thing threw me off and distracted me from the main purpose of the visit of the place were Jesus carried the cross. I tried to focused, but it was hard.

At the end of the day I was exhausted and disappointed. My mind started reviewing my day and the picture on my mind reproduced what Israel could it be two thousand years ago. I tried to see Jesus walking and doing miracles. I couldn't get ride of the idea of seeing all this people selling stuff and fighting for religion. Some of them crying and lifting prayers to an empty tomb. I was judging them with anger and hatred. I realized later that I was one of them, pointing with my finger, fighting for which was the true religion. I was one more focusing my eyes on the exterior and not in the heart.

What a blessing He has giving me. I saw the same things He saw and now I feel the same love for this people. So no disappointment at all and happy about my stayed in there. Jesus is the same everywhere we go so feel bless and don't faint in your faith, STRENGTH AND HONOR fellows.

Finally, many of you have been asking me for prayer requests. I haven't ask for anything the last months but today my only two petitions are this. Please pray for safety as we move from Middle East to Africa and the second one for some financial support. God is faithful and I know He knows my needs before I even talk.

I love you all and I hope everything is fine back home.

Blessings

Macho

A Short Side Story

John Norton

I met John in Costa Rica five years ago. We walked around San Jose downtown and his kindness and love caught my heart. The way he was with his kids and the look of his eyes when I was talking to him struck my heart. My broken English was making the conversation more difficult, but He never stopped listening. He kept asking for my goals and dreams, I'll tried to reply the questions over and over, sometimes with the right words and sometimes explaining the word I was trying to say. It took us twice the time of a single conversation. He always listened.

Always a teacher and encourager, he spoke about my studies and quoted a few authors to support what he was trying to say. I felt the gaze of his eyes digging deeper into my heart. “What do you want to be?” “What do you think about studying in the U.S.?” he said And here is where the story began.

Everything started in my new home in California. After living for twenty one years in Costa Rica I moved in to John's house with the other Norton's family members to finish my studies in the United States. The Norton's family decided to pay for my studies and let me live with them during that time. As the months passed by they became my family and so I did. John became my friend and pastor, his soft words and wisdom pushed my life to a whole new level. I wanted to be like him, I wanted to follow his steps and motions. We started reading books together, cleaning the garage, bike riding and playing soccer. A bond grew but a change in our story turned our lives upside down. Never again would we be the same after our Around The World Semester, our journey within the journey.

This new adventure begins in Orange County when two professors from Concordia decided to take twenty five students in a semester abroad, around the world. With a PHD on Shakespeare, his love for literature can make students love poetry, novels, textbooks and history books. During the last month and three weeks I have been following closely the steps of professor Norton, his motions and his words have an inspiring secret that goes beyond understanding.

As a professor his example of daily life reflects what he say's in class. He is a lamp that guides me through the secrets of life and literature. If there is a moment I can bring back from this trip to fully show his passion for literature it was when in one of our World Religions class, he was faced by twenty three students discouraged by the lecture of the Qur'an. He stopped the class and brought out a profound teaching about loving people by understanding their beliefs and forcing ourselves to find the meaning of a book that had brought millions of people to believe in Islam as the only true religion. Just as this passion for literature is one of his gifts, humility is also one of the characteristics of John Norton.

In the present, as I travel the world with John, it has amazed me the humility and simplicity of his actions, which by the way makes traveling fascinating. In one of our stops in Jordan while all our group was waiting for the ferry that was going to takes us from Egypt to Jordan, John started talking to some of the locals about the Arabic language. “He is my language professor. How come he is asking to a random man about the right way to say and write the numbers?” I thought. I realized later that he was a student too just like the twenty five students on the trip. He knows that he does not know all. He asks his students for information and allows them to teach about what they know. The humility of his heart and his desire for knowledge has become a virus that goes through my bloodstream and invades my soul. It has been turning my trip into a unique lifetime experience.

During my trip around the world with my school I have learned how to see my professor as more than only a statue holding a book, like I used to do in High School. In one of our World Literature discussions about “Snow,” the book written by Orhan Pamuk, we were commenting about the cliche’s of the Islam culture according to our American perspective when the comment was made, “It is different when you put someone's face in the story, someone like our new Middle Eastern friends” John said. Once again he was right. I replaced my professor's face and he became my friend, my travel buddy and my mentor. A whole new level of teaching and learning had begun since that day.

I was never ready for this adventure, my heart was afraid of failing. As a kid I gave up my dreams of traveling, but “God first”as we say in Costa Rica, John gave me the opportunity to believe in myself, to trust and face all my fears. It all started on August 16^th when I was packing and getting ready for this trip when John came to my room and asked me if I had enough space to fit some of his stuff. “ I do,” I said. Even though I did not have any. My response was a result of his influence in my life already.

Finally how do you describe the scenery around you? How to capture the essence of the moment? In a public blog John writes about his experience on his way to Israel “My eyes just filled with tears as our bus made the last turn, revealing the most amazing canyon I have ever seen. Surrounded by Father's power and beauty, in a strange land of unknown tongues,where the Lord met with our forefathers in the faith” The journey continues as we move to our next destination. No matter were we will be in the next months, the words of love, kindness, wisdom, encouragement and knowledge will travel with us, in John until the the end of our lives.